For Dai Greene, Life's Hurdles Weren't Just the Ones on the Track

The World Championships 400-meter hurdles gold medalist from Wales recalls, "I lived on the breadline a while and you get used to it." He had a stint working at McDonald's and a struggle with epilepsy. "After a while you don't want to live like that. You can't if you have any hopes of becoming an elite athlete," he makes clear. "The little money I had went on food because I wasn't prepared to eat beans on toast every day." He was in such dire straits in 2008 that he considered giving up his sport, but now Greene is a European, Commonwealth, and World Champion. "I know on the start line I've done everything to be ready. So if someone beats me they are going to have to run a special race," he explains. "I believe in myself .... Some guys have run faster than me in perfect conditions - which we don't get in this country - but I always back myself to win the race that counts." More